Special Ceramic tiles with the look of wood

CERAMIC TILES WITH THE LOOK OF WOOD SHEER LOGIC

HERE, TOO, THE CHOICE OF WOOD IS ALMOST INFINITE

Wood is one of the oldest commodities for building use. The fact that wood is quite easy to process has certainly helped its success. Then, there’s the variety. In contrast to bygone days when it was mainly oak or nothing, we can now access countless sorts of wood, which can then be rounded off with a whole range of colours and finishes. Worth imitating? Absolutely! All types of floors have done it for years. Tile floor producers are following suit and doing it with success!

Large-scale imitation Let’s be clear about this. When we say ‘all’ floor producers imitate wooden floors, we really do mean ‘all producers’. We mention laminate first, but we can now also include PVC, LVT, and linoleum.

Laminate first From day one, laminate emerged from a quest for an affordable alternative to costly wooden floors which retained the look of wood. It was an imitation product, that’s for sure. Only when laminate was well established in floor technology did producers start deviating from wood decors to introduce other colours and designs as well. Since laminate resulted from a combination of photography and printed material, one of its initial limitations was the monotony of the floorboards. All the planks in the pack were identical, something which was virtually impossible with real wood. That certainly made laminate ‘look’ cheaper. Then, there was the feel. Laminate didn’t have any feel. Its surface was smooth, yet the look did not correspond to the feel when you touched it. The surface was hard, but completely smooth. That meant another contrast with real wood. Better photography and printing technology helped to overcome the initial flaw. Each plank became different, so floors became less repetitive. The feel was dealt with later. The recently discovered embossed in register technique (see also the frame piece) now allows us to transfer the wood grain to the laminate surface so that you get the feel of real wood.

And then the rest Laminate has made the grade thanks to its powerful imitation of wood together with lots of other features which clients appreciate: low maintenance, anti-static, antibacterial, and endless decorative options. However, the penchant for wood finds expression in other forms of floor technology and building materials. Amongst types of floors we can immediately mention vinyl, PVC, and linoleum. Here, too, the stress is on the designs offered on wood decors. Those floors are also the result of photography and print technology. Here, too, although some floors really are thin, manufacturers have provided relief to give you the real feel of wood grain. Furthermore, wood imitations in the building sector are ‘legion’: PVC outdoor joinery adopted the look of wood at a very early stage, whilst certain synthetics or composites have imitated wooden sidings or wall planks for years. So now there’s ‘ceramic’ as well The day came when it seemed as if just about all building materials were available in a lookalike of wood without actually being wood. Stone was the only one missing. This seems logical; stone, natural stone, or ceramic tiles have their own markets and, in particular, their own assets. In natural stone we find ‘natural’ variants which have nothing to do with imitation. In ceramic tiles we find an endless range of decors. Some ceramic tiles endeavour to imitate natural stone and they do it with success.

The step towards wood Since just about anything is possible here, too, it is only a small step towards wood decors. Ceramic floor manufacturers have grasped the success story of wood decors and their considerable assets. If you can imitate the look of a parquet or wooden floor impeccably with the properties of a stone floor, you certainly have a ‘cast-iron’ product.

Ceramic tiles with the look of wood We’re not going to use the term ‘ceramic parquet’ any more, even though the product is conquering the markets under that banner. ‘Parquet’ is reserved for wooden floors with a real wood top layer of at least 2.5mm. Ceramic tiles are building products baked from clay. They are used both indoors on walls or floors and outdoors on walls and on the ground. We call them wall tiles or floor tiles, depending on the usage. Ceramic tiles are available glazed or unglazed, compact, sealed or porous, pressed, and available in different thicknesses.

Available anywhere As we’ve said, the manufacturers of ceramic tiles have discovered the success of wood decors. Ceramic tiles are appearing in just about every showroom and are on offer in a good number of wood sorts. These wood decors are on offer in the form of both glazed tiles and full ceramic tiles. You can easily see the benefits of this new type of floor. It gives you a fully washable and waterproof floor covering with the authentic look of a parquet or wooden floor. Here, too, you can feel the grain. Not only is there a wide variety of wood sorts, but the number of available sizes is remarkably high. This is obviously good news for consumers, who now get Photo – VM-TEGELS another extra option.